1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a foldable pontoon composed of two inner floating bodies and two outer bodies which are each connected to one another by means of joints and can be folded together in the form of a W in the transport position. The floating bodies are connected to each other by a pull rope device composed of pull ropes and levers for facilitating the folding and unfolding procedures, wherein a two-arm unfolding lever mounted at each end face of the outer floating bodies acts with one end at a stop and a pull rope is attached to the opposite end of the unfolding lever.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a pontoon of the above-described type is placed in the water and the pontoon is folded out, the two inner floating bodies are opened by the buoyancy. The two outer floating bodies are opened by a kinematic system essentially composed of pull ropes and so-called unfolding levers in dependence of the opening angles of the two inner folding bodies. When the pontoon is folded together, the outer floating bodies are moved inwardly by a push boat until they come to rest against the corresponding inner floating bodies. A crane is used for lifting the folded pontoon out of the water. The crane acts on the joint which connects the two inner floating bodies to each other at the lower longitudinal edges thereof.
In a pontoon of the above-described type disclosed in DE 30 04 397 C2, an inner floating body and an outer floating body each are connected to each other by a joint. Since these two floating bodies must move relative to each other by an angle of 180.degree. when the pontoon is folded out, the joint components must be mounted outside of the floating bodies proper. It is unavoidable in this connection that components of the joint connection must also be arranged at the upper side of the floating bodies, so that these components protrude upwardly above the roadway in the state of use. Since not only wheeled vehicles but also tracked vehicles travel on this roadway, protruding joint components must be avoided as much as possible since otherwise damage is unavoidable.